Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy was my first brush with the notion that writers were spies. At nine I was Harriet, furiously scribbling in my notebook as I peered under gates and through knot-holed...

As you know, October 5th was Global James Bond Day, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the theatrical premiere of Dr. No. (You did know that, right?) The book itself was released in March 1958, which...